Freshman Dem lawmaker says Trump brought dishonor to his office with shutdown

Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D) took aim at President Trump on the House floor Tuesday afternoon as a partial government shutdown continued into its 18th day, accusing the president of bringing “dishonor” to the Oval Office.

In a speech to her fellow lawmakers, Pressley called the ongoing shutdown of about one-fourth of the federal government a “Trump-generated crisis” that “has brought a tsunami of hurt,” according to a Boston CBS affiliate.

{mosads}“Sir, you dishonor that oath. You devalue the life of the immigrant, the worker and the survivor. I see right through you and so do the American people,” Pressley said, according to the CBS affiliate.

“I rise today in support of the American people who believe in the promise of this nation, and ask for honest pay for an honest day’s work,” she added, referring to thousands of government workers who remain furloughed as of this week.

Pressley also attacked Trump for demanding that a funding bill to reopen the government include funding for a border wall, saying that the shutdown crisis had nothing to do with border security.

A freshman lawmaker, Pressley was elected in an uncontested race in November following her surprising defeat of Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.) in her district’s primary election two months earlier.

A native of Chicago, Pressley ran on a vocally progressive platform in her primary, including support for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an issue that has grown in popularity among progressives in recent months.